How can we design relationships between the most primitive and sophisticated life forms? Can we design wearables embedded with synthetic microorganisms that can enhance and augment biological functionality? Meet Mushtari, a 3D-printed wearable designed as a 58 meter long microbial factory that uses synthetic biology to convert sunlight into useful products for humans and microbes.

Mushtari is created par William Patrick, Sunanda Sharma and Steven Keating, from the Mediated Matter group at MIT Media Lab en collaboration avec Stratasys.

They explored these questions through the creation of Mushtari, a 3D printed wearable with 58 meters of internal fluid channels. The wearable is designed to function as a microbial factory that uses synthetic biology to convert sunlight into useful products for the wearer.

L’Oréal is offering digital tools to experiment with various makeups called “Makeup genius“. Now there needs to be some more 3d facial, age (as in the viral “age recognition” app), eye color, hair recognition, etc to make it more “magical”. Also maybe some help in taking the right picture, because without the right lighting, it is difficult to have an understanding of nuanced palettes of makeup and its beautifying effect.

What a super intriguing student project under the direction of Tazas studio! A digital/physical board game. It has also some vintage connectors to add a sweet kinesthetic feel… I hope we can try it soon!

Ciphering is a personalised ring which physical form encodes numbers of your choosing. The message becomes visible only when you take the ring off your finger and either shine light, or look through it in a correct angle. Your input of four numbers and four letters are fed to an algorithm that generates the unique shape.

You enter date, intials, ring size and material of choice and then a 3D model is individually generated!

Ciphering is a part of a research project between the Berlin University of the Arts and the Technical University Berlin, funded by the Einsteinstiftung under hybrid platform lead by fellow MIT Media Lab friend Professor Jussi Ängeslevä.

Check out this beautiful and novel installation by Brian Mayton, Gershon Dublon, Glorianna Davenport, Joe Paradiso and many other partners and partnering institutions (UMass Boston, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, etc). They have created sensor networks that document ecological processes and allow people to experience the data at different spatial and temporal scales. Small, distributed sensor devices capture climate and other environmental data, while others stream audio from high in the trees and underwater.

Beginning in 2010, a restoration project has been transforming 250 acres of a cranberry farm in southern Massachusetts into a protected wetland system. Living Observatory is an initiative for documenting and interpreting ecological change that will allow people, individually and collectively, to better understand relationships between ecological processes, human lifestyle choices, and climate change adaptation. As part of this initiative, we are developing sensor networks that document ecological processes and allow people to experience the data at different spatial and temporal scales. Low-power sensor nodes capture climate and other data at a high spatiotemporal resolution, while others stream audio. Sensors on trees measure transpiration and other cycles, while fiber-optic cables in streams capture high resolution temperature data. At the same time, we are developing tools that allow ecologists and park visitors to explore this data, both remotely and onsite. The remote interface allows for immersive 3D exploration of a virtual terrain. Visitors to the site will be able to access data from the network around them directly from wearable devices. Google Glass will be incorporated into the wearable infrastructure, along with ongoing work on augmented auditory display using bone conduction and virtual spatialization.

An oldie but goodie, a special project by Markus Kayser who is now at the MIT Media Lab working with Nexi Oxman, his work combines technological and biological processes. By merging the two in terms of material process he challenges current methodologies of production and point out new territories.

In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance.
In this experiment sunlight and sand are used as raw energy and material to produce glass objects using a 3D printing process, that combines natural energy and material with high-tech production technology.
Solar-sintering aims to raise questions about the future of manufacturing and triggers dreams of the full utilisation of the production potential of the world’s most efficient energy resource - the sun. Whilst not providing definitive answers, this experiment aims to provide a point of departure for fresh thinking.

Wearable devices are being introduced to the public. The form is kind of very generic, wearable? A watch. What about jewelry, hairbands, dresses, shirts, wigs, hats, anything but a watch! Or at least a beautiful one… The designer-technologist community came up with a bunch of pretty cool concepts. Why are none of them being picked up, really?

Samsung recently came up with a pretty interesting watch, the Galaxy Gear. I love most of the interactions it proposes. It fits right in the idea of selecting what matters where it matters when it matters and connecting it with my other devices (that I also wear!).

But the watch itself seems unappealing. Maybe something more feminine, more discrete? For instance what they did with Glass is awesome. It is beautiful, customizable and simple even if parked in front of your face.

Recently Google came up with another watch: Android wear. Again it’s really cool, and it totally makes sense , plus the design seems much slicker like a regular watch … Also Android has a pretty good app community…

I like the aesthetics of the Pebble watch. A bit vintage nerd, it’s somehow the one that I prefer in terms of look, just because it has a personality.

Now I really REALLY think this is the way to go. Durr by Skrekkogle. Rethinking time all together. Envisioning what would it feel to not look for time when you want it, but being reminded every five minutes that 5 minutes have passed. I love this shivering bracelet that investigates our perception of 5 minutes. Transforming your perception of the day, I am curious to see how people react to tangible time. Of course, the design is really awesome.

Hugh Herr went to TED 2014! A first dance, on a next-generation bionic limb: Hugh Herr and Adrianne Haslet-Davis at TED2014. I have always been a fan of Hugh’s work, not only because his work is dedicated to transform people’s lives, but also how he creates a new future for us. Imagine, we grow old but with no arthritis, huzzah!!!!

We want to close the loop between the human and the bionic limb,” he says. “We’re doing experiments where we’re growing nerves … When this is fully developed, persons like myself will not only have synthetic limbs that move like flesh and bone, but that feel like flesh and bone.

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